The newest version of the protocol, Bluetooth LE, which stands for “low energy,” uses very little power in comparison to Wi-Fi. It also has higher data bandwidth than Zigbee and Z-Wave (though lower than Wi-Fi), allowing Bluetooth-enabled products to do more than simply flip a switch or report movement. And because Bluetooth uses frequency hopping and government-grade encryption to help ensure no one can intercept or unscramble your interaction with your smart home gear, Bluetooth is also very secure. “It was originally developed to be what people call a personal area network,” says Coley.īut in the smart home, Bluetooth appears on products that require a person to have a close physical proximity to the device, like the Kwikset Kevo smart door lock. Until recently, says Coley, Wi-Fi chips have also been relatively expensive, another reason why tech companies seeking cheaper alternatives have turned to other wireless technologies for their products.īluetooth: In linking the smartphone in your pocket with the computer on your desktop and the headphones on your ears, Bluetooth makes secure connections between nearby devices. But until you get a home hub solution like the Harmony, it’s worth knowing why smart home product designers choose the networks that they do:
Likewise, the various wireless networks that make up a smart home each have their own use.Īnd just as those networks are invisible in the real world, solutions like Logitech’s Harmony Home Hub, which can talk to a database of more than 270,000 connected devices, are trying to make them invisible to smart home owners by controlling all these separately-networked smart home products - everything from connected coffee makers to smart window shades - through one interface. On the face of it, that’s a reasonable question, but it’s also analogous to asking the difference between a ball-peen and a sledge hammer - both are used to bang on things, but you wouldn’t drive a fencepost with a mallet. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.
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